Truman's Conscience

Game On

Well, here we are. Its less than three hours to go before the Iowas Caucus and I've got my game face on. I haven't blogged much about the lead up to this kick-off to the Presidential election season because of all the emotional investment I have in the Edwards campaign. I figure if he is going to make it he has to win in Iowa and no less than second above Hillary. After that it will be a slow fade. I am not happy at all with Obama or Hillary like the rest of the blogosphere. They both have tendencies to lurch so easily into GOP talking points and aren't reticent at all to deliver a smack or blow to not just members of their own party, but the party in general.

I sense this will be bittersweet for me. It has been gratifiying to watch Edwards' growth into a true liberal/progressive candidate, which is a reason some select members of the left blogosphere claim he can't be trusted. They can't reconcile the establishmentarian that ran in '04 with the anti-establishment candidate you see today. The fact is, he is the type of candidate I want, one who is evolving and growing into what they are and believe as time goes on. I think Al Gore epitomizes that more than any other candidate you can find today for national office. Hopefully, none of us are the same persons we were four years ago. I like to think there is some growth in all of us. Be that as it may the bittersweet aspects of this race is the fact that it will more than likely soon be over for the former Senator from North Carolina. It seems the conventional wisdom has it he had better beat out Obama and Clinton by several points in Iowa, or he becomes irrelevent.

It has been observed he has no open offices in the states for "Tsunami Tuesday" in February. Various polls, which can be found at Open Left, MyDD, or Kos, tell us that Edwards isn't show in any poll to be leading and has somewhat of a slight fade at this point. He will be limited on funds, as he has opted to run a campaign opting for matching federal funding, and he doesn't have any organizatons outside the Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada events. Hopefully, this way my crushing disappointment won't be as long lasting and be a long drawn out slow fade. Even though Obama and Hillary have angered me on more than one occassion, I'll vote for the Democratic Party nominee, no matter who it is. So, I might as well throw in my prediction: Obama (34%), Clinton (28%), and Edwards - a very disappointing (22%). The rest will be split between Richardson, Dodd, and Biden. Kucinich will be lucky to have viability in 5% or less of the precincts statewide and will be lucky to break the 1% barrier. So there you have it. Then on to New Hampshire where he will be lucky to make double digits. (sigh)

I'll be posting more as the campaign rolls toward the nomination, but it won't be as enthusiastic.